Internal-combustion engine



W. C. HOWARD.

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED lAN.9, 1919,

1,89,3%u Patented Sept. 6, 1921.,v

4 SHEETS-SHEET 27 M 1 Ma \O s Q WITNESS: g 23% Q & INVENTOR.

% Q William 6 Howard,

A TTORNEY.

W. C. HOWARD.

)NTERNAL COMBUSHON ENGINE.

APPLICAHON FILED JAN. 9, 1919.

1,390,034, PatentedSept. 6, 1921..

4 SHEETS-SHEEI Z.

W I TNESS: Q I N V EN TOR.

William 6 flaw/ad, M By fiw A TTORNE Y.

W. C. HOWARD.

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN-9,1919.

1,390,034.. Patentedsept. 6,1921.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

WITNESS: [N V ENTOR.

ATTORNEY.

W. C. HOWARD.

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.9, 191 9.

1,390,034m PatentedSept. 6, 192 1.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

62, I INVENTOR.

W/ zizzmz 6 Howard A TTORNEY.

W1 TNESS:

lid

t l -J G. HOWARD, OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI.

NTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 6, 1921.

Application filed January 9, 1919. Serial No. 270,281.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM C. HOWARD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Kansas City, in the county of Jackson and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Internal-Combustion Engines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements 1n internal combustion engines, and one object is to eliminate the dead centers common to engines employing crank shafts, and by such elimination obtain the same leverage on the engine shaft throughout the power strokes of the pistons.

A. further object is the elimination of the connecting rods and their bearings usually employed in connecting the pistons to crank shafts.

Another object is to provide an engine of greater efficiency, one of fewer parts, and one in which the parts can be readily assembled or disassembled.

Other objects will hereinafter appear, and in order that the invention may be fully understood, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a sectional view of the engine on line I-I of Fig. 4.

Fig. 2 is a cross section on line 11-11 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a broken away.

Fig. 4 is an end; elevation of the engine with an end plate thereof removed.

Fig. 5 is an irregular cross section on line V-V of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a cross section on line Vll-VI of plan view of the engine partly Fig. 7 is a side elevation of a cam wheel employed in carrying out the invention.

Fig. 8 is a front elevation of said cam wheel.

Fig. 9 isa vertical sectional view of the cam wheel on line Iii-TX of Fig. 7.

Fig. 10 is an enlarged broken sectional view of an exhaust valve and associated parts.

Fig. 11 is a diagram of the cam wheel flattened out. p

Referrin now in detail to the various parts, 1 an 3 designate two sets of opposed cylinders, each set in the present instance embodying four cylinders, which number however may be increased or diminished according to the size and power of the engine required. The cylinders in the two sets 1 and 3 are axially arranged and spaced equal distances from each other and the engine shaft 80. Flanges 5 unite the cylinders 1, and flanges 7 unite the cylinders 3. Said flanges 5 and 7 are spaced apart to admit fans 9 and 11, respectivel Air spaces 13 are left between the sets 0 cylinders to permit air to circulate freely around each cylinder and coact with the fans in preventing overheating of the engine.

The outer ends of the two sets of cylinders 1 and 3 are closed by cylinder heads 15 and 17, removably. secured to said ends by 'suitable means such as bolts 19 and 21, respectively, while the inner ends of said sets are firmly united by a tubular connection 23, preferably, made in halves secured to the cylinder heads by suitable means such as screws 25 (Fig. 3), so that it may be readily placed in posltion or removed without disturbing other parts; The tubular connection 23 is fitted snugly in place to hold a lubricant for the cylinders 1 and 3 and the shaft 80 and its bearings 24: and 26 in the flanges 5 and 7 respectively.

The cylinder heads 15 and 17 are provided with combustion chambers 27 and 29, communicating with the outer ends of the respective cylinders and supplied with an explosive mixture through passageways 31 and 33 having intakes 35 and 37, respectively. The flow of the explosive mixture from the passageways 31and 33 into the combustion chambers 27 and 29 is controlled by intake valves and 42 provided with stems 4A and .16, reciprocably mounted in guides 48 and 50 suitably secured in the cylinder heads 15 and 17 respectively.

Coil springs 52 and 54 are provided to close the intake valves 40 and 42 and hold their stems in engagement with the peripheries of came and 62, respectively, which open said valves at the proper time. The cams 60 and 62 are mounted upon shafts 64 and 66, journaled in the cylinder heads 15 and 17 and in disks 68 and 70 removably-securedto said cylinder heads 15 and 17, respectively. The shafts '64 and 66 are driven by timer gears 72 and 74, which are driven by pinions 76 and 78, respectively, fixedly mounted upon the engine shaft 80. One of the shafts 66 is longer than its companions as disclosed on Fig. 1, so that it may be grasped and rotated to set the timer gears to open the respective intake valves at the proper time.

82 and 84 designate exhaust valves which permit',the burnt gases in the combustion chambers 40 and'42 to escape intopassageways 86 and 88, cast in the cylinder heads 15 and 17 and leading to outlets 90 and 92, re-, spectively. The exhaust valves 82 and 84 have stems 94 and 96, reciprocably arranged in the piston heads 15 and 17, and yieldably held to their seats by coil springs 98 and 100 which are protected from injury by caps 102 and'104 removably secured to. the cylinder heads 15 and 17, respectively.

The exhaust valves 82 and 84 are opened at the proper'time by plungers 106 and 108 reciprocably arran ed in 15 and 17 and yiel ably held by coil springs 110 and 112 in engagement with cams 114 and 116 mounted upon the shafts 64 and 66, respectively. Each plunger extends through a slot 118 in the respective valve stem and has an oblique surface 120 which-opens the respective valve when the plunger is advanced by its respective cam. Anti-friction balls or rollers, 122 and 124 are placed in the valve stems 94 and'96 and the cylinder heads 15 and 17, respectively,.to bear against 0 posite sides of the plungers, as more c early disclosed by Fig. 10. Disks123 and 125 are removably secured to the outer ends of the cylinder heads-15 and 17, to exclude dust from the plungers 106, and 108, respectively, and their actuating mechanism.

The usual spark plugs 126 and 128 are threaded into the cylinder heads 15 and 17 to fire the explosivecharges in the respective combustion chambers 27 and 29.

The bores of the cylinders 1 and 3 are provided with reciprocatory pistons 130 and 132 having fixed stems 134 and 136, provi'ded at their adjacent ends with rollers 138 and 140'and rollers 142 and 144, respectively. The adjacent ends of the piston stems 134 and 136 project into slots 146 and 148, respectively, in opposite edges of a cam wheel 150, fixedly mounted upon the engine shaft 80. Weights 151 are cast or otherwise fixed to the periphery of the cam wheel 150 to impart a steady motion thereto when in operation. Thrust bearings 152 are interposed between the hub of the cam wheel 15p and the adjacent flanges 5 and 7 to prevent said cam wheel from being jammed against one of said flanges should one of the opposed cylinders miss fire.

One side of the cam wheel 150 is provided with a pair of concentric flanges 153 having four surfaces 154, 156, 158, and 160, while the opposite side of said cam wheel 150 has a pair of concentric'flanges 162 having four surfaces 164, 166, 168 and1'70.

The surfaces 160 and. 170 diverge toward a wide perlpheral portion 178 and converge the cylinder heads toward a narrow peripheral portion 180 of the cam'wheel 15.0. The surfaces 158 and 168 diverge toward the wide peripheral portion 17 8 and converge toward a narrow peripheral portion 182. The surfaces 154 and 164 converge toward the narrow portion 180 and diverge toward a wide peripheral portion 176. The surfaces 156and 166 diverge toward the wide portion 176 and the narrow portion 182. The wide peripheral portions 176 and 178 are diametrically opposed to each other and disposed at angles of ninety degrees to the narrow which are diametrically opposed to each other.

In practice the timing, mechanism is adjusted so that explosions simultaneously occur in two opposed cylinders immediately after the'passage of a wide peripheral portion of the cam wheel 150. Assuming such wide portions to be the part 17 8 while the shaft 80 is being started in the usual way in the direction of the arrow Fig. 11, the result is as follows: The pistons in the two opposed cylinders in which the explosions simultaneously occur are forced toward each other causing their rollers 138 and 140 to press upon the surfaces 160 and 170, respectively, and continue the rotation of the cam wheel 150, throughout the power strokes which terminate about the time the rollers 138 and 140 reach the narrow peripheral portion 180. The two pistons are then forced forward in their respective cylinders to ex el the burnt gases b the surfaces 154 and E60 pushing the rol ers 138 and 140, res ectively, away from each other until the wi e peripheral portion 17 6 is reached. The two pistons are then drawn backwardly on their suction strokes by the flanges 153 and 162 drawing the rollers 142 and 144, respectively, toward each other until the narrow peripheral portion 182 is reached. The two pistons are then forced forwardly on their compression strokes b the surfaces 158 and 168 acting on the rollers 138 and 140, respectively, until the wide peripheral portion 178 is reached, thus completing the four cycles which are repeated while the engine is in operation. In the meantime the other three pairs of opposed cylinders fire in order, so that two opposed power impulses act to rotate the cam wheel 150 during each revolution thereof.

By having the pistons act 'on opposite sides of the cam wheel 150 near the periphery thereof there is no loss of leverage throughout the power strokes such as occurs where a crank shaft is employed, as it is a well-known fact that the leverage drops to zero each time such crank shaft crosses a dead center;

While I have shown and described the preferred form of my invention, I reserve the right to make such changes in the C nportions 180 and 182,

struction, proportion, and arrangement of parts, as properly fall Within the spirit and scope of the claims.

Having thus described my invention what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In an engine of the character described, a piston, a cylinder in which said piston is reciprocably mounted, a journaled shaft paralleling the ipiston, a rotary member fixed to said shaft and having an irregular surface concentric to the shaft and operably connected to the piston, an inlet valve mounted in the cylinder and arranged at right angles to the shaft, an exhaust valve paralleling the shaft, a plunger for opening said exhaust valve, a cam for actuating said plunger, a cam for opening the inlet valve, a shaft upon which said cams are fixedly mounted side by side, timing ears driven by the first-mentioned shaft for driving the cam shaft, and springs for closing the valves.

2. In an engine of the character described,

a rotary shaft, two groups of alined cylinders paralleling said shaft and arranged about the same, pistons reciprocably mounted in said cylinders, self-closing inlet valves to said cylinders, self-closing exhaust valves to said cylinders, a cam wheel fixed on the rotary shaft between the two groups of cylinders and having a periphery with flanged margins which converge toward each other at certain points and diverge at other points, nfeans operably connecting the pistons to said flanged margins, plungers for opening the exhaust valves, cams for actuating said plungers, cams for opening the inlet valves, shafts upon which the cams are fixedly-mounted, and timing gears driven by the first-mentioned shaft for driving the cam shafts.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature, in the presence of two witnesses.

W'ILLIAM C. HOVARD. W'itnesses:

F. G. FISCHER, L. J. FISCHER. 

